Bite-Sized Business Law
Looking for the latest in legal business news?
Get a breakdown of the top stories in business law from industry leaders on the front lines with Bite-Sized Business Law. Host Amy Martella takes a closer look at the latest corporate happenings through interviews with the attorneys, legal experts, public figures, and scholars behind the news to distill business law’s biggest stories into bite-sized portions.
This is your chance to go further into the world of business law and stay up to date with legal cases and industry trends.
Corporations impact us all, leading changes that extend far beyond business to shape the economy, public policy, technology, and beyond. Looking at the big picture, Amy discusses not only the underlying issues in business ethics and legal cases leading the biggest stories but also sparks thought-provoking discussions on where the law should be headed.
Amy is the Executive Director of the Corporate Law Center at Fordham University School of Law. Her background ranges from big law to government to tech startups, allowing her to offer an insider’s perspective of the issues that shape corporate actions, large and small. Covering crypto regulation to securities fraud, AI’s impact to Elon Musk’s pay package, Bite-Sized Business Law covers it all with guests of varying viewpoints to provide the nuanced analysis needed to tackle complex problems.
Whether you're looking for the latest in legal insight on intellectual property, mergers and acquisitions, business ethics or legal cases in the business law world, you’ll find it here. Enjoying a thoughtful perspective on the news stories of the moment, Bite-Sized Business Law examines big issues and delivers them in small doses.
Bite-Sized Business Law is a project by the Corporate Law Center at Fordham Law. The Center serves as a hub for scholars, professionals, policymakers, and students to engage in the study, discussion, and debate of current issues in corporate law. The Center focuses on aspects of corporate law, corporate compliance, antitrust law, and securities regulation. Through initiatives like the Mergers and Acquisitions seminar and the Securities Litigation and Arbitration Clinic, students actively engage in real-world research and cases, bridging the gap between classroom learning and practical application in the legal field.
Bite-Sized Business Law
Criminal Investors
Investors hold a special place in American hearts. Even those who invest in law-breaking firms are treated as victims rather than actors who may bear some responsibility for the harm those firms cause. Is it time to change this perspective? And if so, what are the risks and benefits inherent in such a seachange? Today, we are joined by Associate Professor of Law at Emory School of Law, Andrew Jennings, whose latest paper, ‘Criminal Investors’, serves as the basis for our discussion. Hear Andrew unpack his latest article on the culpability of investors in law-breaking firms, including why investors are perceived as blameless in America, how investing can enable crime, why prosecutors are apprehensive about charging investors, and the ins and outs of shareholder liability. We also examine the potential social costs of prosecuting investors for corporate misconduct, the role of knowledge and intent, how technology could change the landscape, and Andrew’s final thoughts on how society can ensure that corporate criminal behavior can be policed while protecting the vast majority of non-culpable investors.
Key Points From This Episode:
- Introduction of Associate Professor of Law, Andrew Jennings and a description of his Business Scholarship Podcast.
- ‘Criminal Investors’, a paper reassessing the culpability of investors in law-breaking firms.
- The prevailing assumptions we make about investors that prompted a series of articles by Andrew.
- How investing can enable crime, and why investors are rarely prosecuted in America.
- Diving deeper into shareholder liability while comparing direct and vicarious liability.
- Exploring investor liability and where knowledge and intent fit in.
- The potential costs of prosecuting investors for corporate misconduct.
- How technology and AI could influence the future of investor prosecutions.
- Andrew’s take on whether investors are more or less likely to be prosecuted in the future.
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
Andrew Jennings | Emory University School of Law
Andrew Jennings on YouTube | Business Scholarship Podcast
‘Criminal Investors by Andrew Jennings’
Fordham University School of Law Corporate Law Center